Ossi Väänänen

Ossi Väänänen
Date of birth	August 8, 1980
place of birth	Vantaa , Finland
size	193 cm
Weight	98 kg
position	defender
Shot hand	Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft	1998 , 2nd round, 43rd position Phoenix Coyotes
Career stations
1995-2000	Jokerite
2000-2004	Phoenix Coyotes
2004-2005	Jokerite
2005-2007	Colorado Avalanche
2007-2008	Djurgårdens IF
2008-2009	Philadelphia Flyers
2009	Vancouver Canucks
2009-2010	HK Dinamo Minsk
2010-2016	Jokerite

Ossi Väänänen (born August 8, 1980 in Vantaa ) is a former Finnish ice hockey player . The defender played 479 games in the National Hockey League , the majority of them for the Phoenix Coyotes and the Colorado Avalanche . He spent the beginning and the end of his career with his youth club Jokerit . He became world champion with the Finnish national team in 2011 and won the bronze medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics .

Career

Väänänen joined the Finnish club Jokerit at the age of five and played for their youth teams until 1998. In the 1998 NHL Entry Draft , the Phoenix Coyotes selected him in the second round in 43rd place, but he played for Jokerit in the SM-liiga until 2000 . At the end of the 1999/2000 season he was recognized as the best young player in the league and won the silver medal of the SM-liiga championship with Jokerit .

Ossi Väänänen

From 2000 to 2004 he played for the Phoenix Coyotes in the National Hockey League. In March 2004, the Coyotes sent him along with Chris Gratton and a second-round draft pick to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Derek Morris and Keith Ballard . Half a year later, during the 2004/05 season , he returned to Jokerit because of the lockout in the NHL. In June 2006, his expiring contract was extended by one year. A year later, despite several offers from the NHL, he decided to return to Europe and signed a contract with Djurgårdens IF in the Swedish Elitserien . In 2008 he returned to the NHL and signed a one-year contract with the Philadelphia Flyers . In February 2009 he moved to the Vancouver Canucks.

In the summer of 2009 Väänänen received no new contract in the NHL, so he decided to return to Europe. He signed a contract with HK Dinamo Minsk from the Continental Hockey League , for which he scored six assists in 52 games. After this unsuccessful season in the KHL, he left Minsk and signed a contract with his home club Jokerit. In November of the same year he extended this for two more years. He also took over the captaincy at Jokerit.

After the 2015/16 season, in which he had only played six competitive games due to injury, Väänänen ended his active career.

International

Ossi Väänänen has already played a number of international matches for the Finnish national ice hockey team , including a. he played at the 2002 Winter Olympics , the 2003 and 2005 World Championships . He was also used at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey . At the 2014 Olympic Games, he won the bronze medal with the Finnish national team.

Achievements and Awards

• 2003 NHL Young Stars Game
• 2004 2nd place at the World Cup of Hockey
• 2011 gold medal at the world championship
• 2014 bronze medal at the Olympic Winter Games

Career statistics

				peak season						Playoffs
season	team	league		GP	G	A.	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A.	Pts	PIM
1998/99	Jokerite	SM-liiga		48	0	1	1	42		3	0	1	1	0
1999/00	Jokerite	SM-liiga		49	1	6th	7th	46		11	1	1	2	2
2000/01	Phoenix Coyotes	NHL		81	4th	12	16	90		-	-	-	-	-
2001/02	Phoenix Coyotes	NHL		76	2	12	14th	74		5	0	0	0	6th
2002/03	Phoenix Coyotes	NHL		67	2	7th	9	82		-	-	-	-	-
2003/04	Phoenix Coyotes	NHL		67	2	4th	6th	87		-	-	-	-	-
2003/04	Colorado Avalanche	NHL		12	0	0	0	2		11	0	1	1	18th
2004/05	Jokerite	SM-liiga		28	2	2	4th	30th		12	0	0	0	26th
2005/06	Colorado Avalanche	NHL		53	0	4th	4th	56		1	0	0	0	0
2006/07	Colorado Avalanche	NHL		74	2	6th	8th	69		0	0	0	0	0
2007/08	Djurgårdens IF	Elitserien		45	7th	8th	15th	102		5	0	0	0	2
2008/09	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		46	1	9	10	22nd		-	-	-	-	-
2008/2009	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		3	0	1	1	0		3	0	0	0	2
2009/10	HK Dinamo Minsk	KHL		52	0	6th	6th	76		-	-	-	-	-
2010/11	Jokerite	SM-liiga		60	2	11	13	79		7th	1	2	3	2
2011/12	Jokerite	SM-liiga		57	5	16	21st	98		10	1	2	3	8th
2012/13	Jokerite	SM-liiga		53	2	11	13	61		6th	0	3	3	6th
2013/14	Jokerite	Liiga		44	1	4th	5	24		2	0	0	0	0
2014/15	Jokerite	KHL		44	0	6th	6th	60		10	0	1	1	33
2015/16	Jokerite	KHL		6th	0	0	0	2		-	-	-	-	-
(SM) -Liiga overall				339	13	51	64	380		51	3	9	12	44
KHL total				102	0	12	12	138		10	0	1	1	33
NHL overall				479	13	55	68	482		20th	0	1	1	26th

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; ¹  play-downs / relegation )

family

His brother Jarkko Väänänen was also a professional ice hockey player.

Web links

• Ossi Väänänen in the database of the National Hockey League (English)
• Ossi Väänänen at eliteprospects.com (English)
• Ossi Väänänen at eurohockey.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ tsn.ca, Ossi Vaananen
2. ↑ sports.espn.com, # 27 Ossi Vaananen
3. ↑ denverpost.com, Mailbag: Hannan honing fewer hits
4. ↑ eishockeynews.de , Harkimo vaatii taysremonttia - May 4th 2010